


An Intervention And A Cottage

by NimueOfTheNorth



Series: Coffee and Tea [10]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Caring, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 02:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21246215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NimueOfTheNorth/pseuds/NimueOfTheNorth
Summary: Q has caught himself in a work spiral. How convenient that Spencer is already in the country and can pry him away from his computers for a while. Even more convenient that Bond knows just the place to send them.





	An Intervention And A Cottage

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written as part of the Just Write Discord Server's Fluff Bingo 2019, in answer to the prompt "Walk in the Country".

Spencer entered Q-branch for the first time. He barely paid attention to all the techs looking at him curiously, just looked around long enough to spot his lover and headed straight for him. He was well aware that the only reason nobody tried to stop him was the intimidating stare of James Bond walking a step behind him. But that's why the man was escorting him in here in the first place.

Spencer had been called in for one specific purpose, and he would fulfil it.

He rounded the large workstation where his boyfriend sat hidden behind an array of computer screens that would make Garcia jealous. Finlay hadn’t even noticed him yet, too lost in whatever project he was engrossed in.

“Q, we’re leaving,” he said instead of a proper greeting.

“What? No! Spencer?” Finlay looked up, frazzled and confused. “What are you doing here?”

“I was at a conference in Cambridge, remember? I wrangled a few extra days off so I could come round and visit you.”

“Yes, but the conference is supposed to last another two days.”

“No, Q, it ended yesterday. Today is Saturday.” Spencer tried his best to not let his worry and frustration show in the tone of his voice. That Finlay had essentially lost three days was beyond normal, even for him.

“Oh, is it?” Finlay pushed his glasses up to rub the bridge of his nose. “Hold on, how did you get in here?”

"James here was concerned about your current bout of extreme workaholism and thought it required an intervention. He talked to Tanner about it, and it was decided that I had by far the best chances to stake such an intervention successfully—seeing as I was already in the country and everything. M approved my access twenty minutes ago, and here I am to take you away."

“But I have work to do!” Spencer couldn’t help but find Finlay’s whining cute. That he allowed his staff to hear him like this was a good indicator just how exhausted he truly was.

"None of your current projects is urgent or anything that your well-trained minions can't handle. You're not helping anyone by passing out at your desk and providing a stumbling hazard. You can come with me gracefully, or James will remove you by force. Either way, we're leaving." He hated having to be this stern with Finlay, that wasn't how they normally handled their relationship, but it would take a bit to jostle his lover out of the hyper-focused mindset of his job. And Spencer had been on the other end of such well-meaning sternness courtesy of Aaron Hotchner often enough to pull this strategy off.

A woman in a lab coat stepped up to them at this moment, holding out Finlay's messenger bag, coat and scarf. "I packed only personal items, his phone and kindle, as requested."

“I need my laptop.”

"No, you don't," Bond spoke for the first time. He took the coat from R's hand and gently prodded Finlay into it. The way his lover followed the man's guidance without really noticing told Spencer that it was something done regularly. He wasn't jealous, just glad that someone was there to look after Finlay all the times he couldn't. His lover needed that.

"What you need," Bond continued, "is to relax and leave this place behind for a while. We rely on your brilliance at its best, and you can't give us that when you're exhausted. You also have all the Double-0s purposely delaying their missions because they don't want to add to your current stress levels. So you will go and enjoy a nice long weekend with your boyfriend. Eat, sleep, see some actual daylight and breathe fresh air, and whatever else the two of you are in the mood for and then, and only then, are you allowed to return to work."

Right on cue, all of the screens went dark and displayed only two small lines of text. _You have been temporarily locked out. Don’t make M angry._

“And that would be Tanner doing his part,” Bond said wrily. He draped the light scarf around Finlay’s neck, handed the messenger bag over to Spencer, and then started to lead both of them towards the exit.

When it looked like Finlay wanted to turn around and try to hack himself back into MI-6’s computers, Spencer snatched his hand and pulled him into the corridor leading to the garage.

“Don’t worry, Q! We’ve got everything under control,” R called after them and gave a little wave. “Enjoy your time off!”

Bond led them to a shining black Range Rover and had the two of them bundled into the backseat in no time. He slipped behind the wheel and said nothing more as he wove his way through the London traffic.

“This isn’t the way to my flat,” Finlay eventually complained.

"No, it isn't," Spencer agreed. "I thought a proper change of scenery would be nice for both of us, and James knew just the place."

“Of course, he did.”

Spencer ignored the sarcasm. "Our bags are in the back, and I made sure the cats have everything they need."

“Thank you,” Finlay acknowledged reluctantly. “Did they seem alright?”

“Yeah. They demanded ample amounts of scratches before they would allow me to pack your things, but I hadn’t expected anything less.”

Bond stopped at a small café and returned after a few minutes with two steaming to-go cups. The one he handed Spencer turned out to be a wonderful caramel latte with not too much sweetness, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that Finlay's held his beloved Earl Grey. His lover was so far beyond any point of exhaustion that a bit more caffeine wouldn't make any difference, and Spencer appreciated that Bond knew the comforting effect the tea had on him.

Finlay wrapped his hands around the cup and inhaled the scent. It was clearly still too hot to drink, but even this spread a small smile over his lips. He then levelled a glare at Bond in the mirror.

“Don’t think this means you’re forgiven for kidnapping me, 007.”

“I hadn’t expected it would,” the man wisely agreed, almost managing to keep his smile in check.

The drive took quite a while, and Finlay just looked out the window and sipped his tea as London turned more suburban around them. About halfway through his cup, Finlay's finger tangled with Spencer's, and he knew that unlike Bond, he was already forgiven for his part in their little intervention.

They eventually pulled up outside a cottage on the edge of a small forest that looked more idyllic and rural than it truly was - a perfect, quiet getaway for city dwellers.

Finlay frowned at the house.

“Quaint. I’m sure the internet connection is atrocious.”

"You're supposed to not care, love," Spencer reminded him and tossed both their empty cups in the bin beside the house, while Bond brought their bags inside. He'd feel bad about letting the man basically act as their valet, but the entire gameplay for this had been agreed upon beforehand, and his job was to focus on Finlay and nothing else. Bond exited the house and handed Spencer a set of keys before saying his goodbye and driving off.

“Come on!” Spencer slightly pulled on Finlay’s hand.

“Aren’t we going inside?”

“Do you want to take a nap?”

“No, I’m not tired at all.”

“That’s what I thought, so why not take a little walk, see what our surroundings have to offer? I’ve been cooped up in conference rooms and lecture halls all week.”

Finlay shrugged but put his hand in Spencer’s and let himself be led down the path that started right behind the cottage’s small garden.

As they walked, Spencer could feel the tension and stress slowly bleed away from his lover as he allowed himself to accept his change in circumstances. Finlay was a creature of habit and hated change about as much as Spencer. Spencer just had learned to adjust quickly to sudden changes in plans due to his job. Finlay was no slower on his feet in an intellectual capacity, but he vastly preferred to do so in a familiar environment.

“So, what had you so busy and engrossed that you completely lost track of time and even forgot our date?” Spencer teased when he thought Finlay was receptive to it.

"I didn't forget our date, just really thought your arrival was still days away." Finlay threw an apologetic smile Spencer's way which Spencer returned easily. They both knew what it meant to get lost in work. "And as for the project, I'm setting up a new routine to keep up with the various aspects of our different missions that will allow for easier cross-referencing to catch connected activities."

Spencer let Finlay ramble on about his current digital baby. It sounded fascinating and something the BAU could maybe even adapt for their own purposes. But for now, talking it all out was the best way to help Finlay let go of it and actually wind down. Letting him talk also made it easy to keep track of how much the exhaustion of working through multiple days on only catnaps was catching up to him.

When Finlay’s words were getting more jumbled and slurred, Spencer steered him to a bench overlooking the sunbathed fields and interspersed groups of trees in all the beautiful colours of early autumn. Finlay tucked himself into Spencer’s side and dozed off pretty much straight away. Spencer was more than content to just sit there and enjoy both view and company. They never got enough moments like this.

Twenty minutes later, a Rover rolled up the dirt road a stone's throw away from their bench and Bond got out without slamming the door. He walked up to them with one eyebrow raised in question.

“Yes, he’s fast asleep,” Spencer said in a low voice.

“Good,” Bond answered just as quietly. He then gently scooped Finlay up in his arms, something that Spencer would never be able to do himself, and carried him to the car. Spencer had the door open for them and was already in the backseat, helping to settle Finlay in comfortably.

They were back at the house in minutes and Bond carried Finlay up to the bedroom, all without the Quartermaster even stirring.

“You do that often, don’t you?” Spencer asked.

“Yeah. Usually just from his workstation to the couch in his office, but I’ve brought him home when he overdid it in the past as well. I’m the only one that he never wakes up with for some reason.”

“He trusts you.”

"You're not jealous, are you?" Bond sounded seriously concerned. "We're just friends. I know my reputation, and I'm certainly not blind to his beauty, but I have few true friends, and I'd never risk that for something stupid. And I could never give him what he wants, needs and deserves. For all that your long-distance thing has its problems, you two are much better together." The man looked away uncomfortably, and Spencer could easily guess that he had been more open than was usual for him.

“No, I’m not jealous. But I’m very glad he has a friend around who’s at least mostly this side of the pond and who takes such good care of him.”

“Right.” Bond shrugged of the unspoken thanks. “You going to be alright from here?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

"Fridge and pantry are stocked, and if you can keep him here for the whole week, M would be delighted to see Q take some proper time off. Tanner will call if there's anything going on we absolutely can't handle without him." He gave Spencer a nod and took his leave without any further goodbye.

Spencer listened for the door to shut and be locked behind him, and the car to drive off. He then carefully peeled Finlay out of most of his clothing, his lover pliable in his hands and absolutely dead to the world. Spencer drew the curtains mostly closed and after divesting himself of shoes and the like, crawled under the duvet with Finlay, snuggling in for an afternoon nap. Finlay would likely sleep much longer, and he clearly needed it.

In a few hours, Spencer would see what he could make for an easy dinner and maybe they could snuggle on the couch in front of the TV for an hour before going to bed for real.

He buried his nose in his lover’s hair with a wry smile. Bond had mentioned a big tub when he told Spencer about the cottage, so they should probably indulge in a soak somewhere along the way.

Spencer was really looking forward to a week of just the two of them.


End file.
